Bollywood, Hollywood and Law come together in a mini seminar

The savory smell of samosas mingled with the Hindi spoken by the actors on the big screen and laughter of the audience. If you closed your eyes, you could easily imagine yourself at a movie theater in Mumbai.

But this cinematic experience was far from India. It was at the Law School at U-M, and the audience was aspiring lawyers watching their last Hindi film for a mini seminar.

The course “Hollywood, Bollywood and the Law: The Globalizing Entertainment Industry” is taught by professor Vikramaditya Khanna. He is the one who brought the Indian snacks to the showing of “3 Idiots” — a screwball comedy about two friends going back to college in search of their third friend.

“Food adds to the overall experience as it is very common when viewing Bollywood movies at cinema halls in India to have food like samosas, Pepsi, chai, chaat,” he said.

Khanna felt that the popularity of the Indian films has been increasing in the United States over the last few years and the students had been interested in the global interactions of Bollywood, which produced more than 800 films a year. The films have an audience of more than 3 billion with big following in the Middle East, in Africa, and in Europe.

The class met for a mini seminar course six times during the academic year. Over the course of the year, the mini seminar has tackled some complex Bollywood and law issues like various intellectual property issues, comparative financing of films in India and the United States, the variation among the media markets (movies as distinct from television), and international distribution and marketing of Bollywood movies.

Above, the course "Hollywood, Bollywood and the Law: The Globalizing Entertainment Industry" is taught by professor Vikramaditya Khanna and includes Indian food to snack on. Below, Law School students prepare to watch their last Hindi film for a mini seminar. Photos by Mandira Banerjee.

Cali CopStan, who took the class as a second-year law student, said they also discussed how Bollywood and Hollywood film markets have merged. “When ‘Lincoln’ came out last year, we didn’t know that it was largely funded by an Indian film entrepreneur.”

The class made a lasting impression on Ji Won Kim who had never watched a Bollywood movie before. “I am plugged into the Bollywood gossip now, and even have favorite actors and actresses.”

CopStan said she has become more interested about the internationalization of the Bollywood industry. “I had no idea how interconnected Hollywood and Bollywood have become, and I am coming away from the class with a much greater appreciation for the way each industry influences the other.”

Kim plans to continue the tradition of Bollywood nights and visit India in the near future. “A few classmates and I have made lists and plan to have our own Bollywood movie nights in the future.”

With the success of the mini seminar, Khanna says he is offering it again this year,” I will probably add a little more on the TV markets and discuss how different areas of law influence the Bollywood market.”